A federal judge hearing a challenge to an Arkansas law that would force libraries and bookstores to cover and segregate all material deemed harmful to minors is seeking clarification of the measure’s language.
“Display—what does that mean?” asked U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Eisele as he heard arguments December 8 in a lawsuit filed by the Arkansas Library Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, and other groups. Eisele questioned whether the law simply barred putting such materials in a prominent place, or if it would also forbid placing them on shelves with just their spines visible, the Associated Press reported December 10.
The plaintiffs claim the law would require them to either erect partitions and carefully inspect the content of every item or totally bar access to anyone under 18. Requiring sellers to be familiar with the content of all their materials “seems like an impossible task,” Eisele observed. “But the question is, is it really required by the statute?” he asked.
The judge also said it didn’t appear to him that the law was intended to apply to libraries. “It seems obvious to me that the person who drafted the bill . . . planned to have it apply only to commercial establishments,” he said.
Eisele told lawyers for the state that he wanted them to address his concerns within 10 days. Although the law took effect July 16, prosecutors agreed to not to enforce it until Eisele rules on the challenge.
Posted December 12, 2003.